PLYMOUTH – The first round of the 2015 NLC Girls Tennis Championships began Wednesday night at Plymouth High School and one local school was able to punch several tickets to Thursday’s semi-finals. Warsaw watched three of its five courts advance from the opening round, including two freshman singles players.

Ella Knight was the first of that young group to advance as she ousted Mady Robinson of Elkhart Memorial 7-5, 6-1 in the No. 3 singles bracket. At No. 2 singles Colette Smith finally managed to get past Goshen’s Kaci Troyer with a 7-6 (3), 4-6, 6-0 win. Both opponents for the freshmen were seniors. Knight will take on top seed Jess Stillson (Plymouth) Thursday while Smith will take on top seed Alana Brubaker (Concord).

Warsaw’s No. 2 doubles team of Sydney Hartman and Athena Schlitt avoided an upset by advancing over Liz Erickson and Ali Miller (Goshen) 7-5, 6-4. Hartman and Schlitt will face No. 2 seeded Alex Klopfenstein and Shannon Purcell (Concord) in tomorrow’s semifinal.

No. 1 doubles pair Camile Kerlin and Hannah Rice fell to top seeded Holyn Eldridge and Mandy Meserve (Concord) 6-2, 6-0 and will face NorthWood’s Tori Schwartz and Kennedy Wiens. No. 1 singles player Liza Lewis put of a valiant effort against No. 4 seed Kylie Frauhiger (Northridge) 6-1, 6-2.

“I feel pretty good about what I saw today,” began Warsaw head coach Rick Orban. “Colette played tough. Ella Knight, another freshman, she played very smart. Then our two doubles played another smart match, almost an identical score from when we played Goshen the other night.

“Our biggest obstacle was getting these girls mentally prepared for this tournament. It’s a young team and this is our first tournament so they had to get adjusted. It’s just a different atmosphere for them. But, I like what I saw tonight. Liza never gave up, never hung her head. That’s a good thing. We’ll work on her confidence tomorrow. The same can be said about our one doubles, they played hard.

“We’ve come together. We’re looking forward to sectional.”

The day did not go as well for Warsaw’s county foe Wawasee.

The Lady Warriors did not see any player advance in the championships bracket but showed promise heading into the consoles.

Jada Antonides fell 6-1, 6-0 to No. 2 seeded Krystal Grubb (Elkhart Memorial) at No. 1 singles. Neally Thanasrivanitchai could not figure out Northridge’s Taylor Sellers, fall 6-2, 6-2 to the No. 2 seed at two singles. Kindra Pressinell (Concord) sent Chelsea Carolus to the consoles at three singles with a 6-0, 6-1 victory.

On the doubles’ courts the struggles continued for Wawasee.

No. 1 doubles team Charity Parker and Ashley Larson fell 6-1, 6-0 to Libbie Portteus and Haley Harrell (Plymouth) while Jazlyn Gehlhausen and Kabrea Rostochak fell to top seeded Kendal Dreibelbis and McKenzie Scheetz (Plymouth) by the same score.

Thursday’s second round will be held at Concord High School while Friday’s finals will be held back in Plymouth.